Age of Sail: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Historical era duringwhen whichsailing internationalships dominated global trade and naval warfare were dominated by sailing vessels}}

{{For|the video gamesgame|Age of Sail (video game)|{{!}}''Age of Sail'' II(video game)}}

[[File:Battle of Scheveningen (Slag bij Ter Heijde)(Jan Abrahamsz. Beerstraten).jpg|thumb|300px|''The [[Battle of Scheveningen]], 10 August 1653'', painted by [[Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraaten]].]]

[[Image:Warship diagram orig.jpg|thumb|A ship of war, [[Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences|''Cyclopaedia'' 1728]], Vol 2]]

The '''Age of Sail''' is a [[periodization|period]] in European history that lasted at the latest from the mid-[[16th century|16th]] (or mid-[[15th century|15th]])<ref name="Gaynor 2013"/> to the mid-[[19th century|19th]] centuries, in which the dominance of [[sailing ship]]s in [[globalization|global trade]] and [[warfare]] culminated, particularly marked by the introduction of [[Naval artillery in the Age of Sail|naval artillery]], and ultimately reached its highest extent at the advent of the analogue [[Steam power during the Industrial Revolution|Agesteam of Steampower]]. Enabled by the advances of the related [[Maritime history#Age of Navigation|Age of Navigation]], it is identified as a distinctive element of the [[early modern period]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hms-trincomalee.co.uk/history/the-age-of-sail |title=The Age of Sail |website=HMS Trincomalee |access-date=12 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316114603/http://www.hms-trincomalee.co.uk/history/the-age-of-sail |archive-date=2016-03-16 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> and the [[Age of Discovery]]. Especially in context of the latter, it refers to a more particular Eurocentric Age of Sail, while generally the Age of Sail is the culminating period of a long intercontinental [[Sailing#History|history of sailing]].<ref name="Gaynor 2013">{{cite journal | last=Gaynor | first=Jennifer L. | title=Ages of Sail, Ocean Basins, and Southeast Asia | journal=Journal of World History | publisher=Project Muse | volume=24 | issue=2 | year=2013 | issn=1527-8050 | doi=10.1353/jwh.2013.0059 | pages=309–333| s2cid=161330041 }}</ref>

Like most [[History by period|periodic eras]], [[Periodization|defining the definitionage]] is inexact but insteadand serves only as a general description. The term is used differently for warships and merchant vessels.

The period between the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, when sailing vessels reached their peak of size and complexity (e.g. [[Clipperclipper]]s and [[Windjammerwindjammer]]s), is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age of Sail".<ref>[http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mma/AtoZ/rigs.html "Sailing Ship Rigs"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228161737/http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mma/AtoZ/rigs.html |date=2010-12-28 }}. [[Maritime Museum of the Atlantic]]</ref>

The firstsecond sea-going [[steamboat]] was Richard Wright's first steamboat ''Experiment'', an ex-French [[lugger]]; she steamed from [[Leeds]] to [[Great Yarmouth|Yarmouth]] in July 1813.<ref>{{Citation | first = R | last = Malster | title = Wherries & Waterways | place = Lavenham | year = 1971 | page = 61}}.</ref><ref name="google">{{cite book|title=DNB|author=Stephen, L.|date=1894|publisher=Smith, Elder, & Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=puApAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA399|page=399|access-date=2017-12-28}}</ref><!---could use better citation to prove that there was a canal from Leeds to Yarmouth, but that seems to be the intent of all statements on the subject--> The first iron steamship to go to sea was the 116-ton ''[[Aaron Manby]]'', built in 1821 by [[Aaron Manby (ironmaster)|Aaron Manby]] at the [[Horseley Ironworks]], and became the first iron-built vessel to put to sea when she crossed the [[English Channel]] in 1822, arriving in [[Paris]] on 22 June.<ref name="artistaswitness">{{cite web |title=The First Steamboat Services in Europe |url=http://www.artistaswitness.com/Steamships/steamships_dn_07.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041105093118/http://www.artistaswitness.com/Steamships/steamships_dn_07.htm |archive-date=5 OctoberNovember 2004 |publisher=The Artist as Witness: Images of Technology |date=2002 |access-date=21 July 2021}}</ref> She carried passengers and freight to Paris in 1822 at an average speed of 8 knots (9&nbsp;mph, 14&nbsp;km/h).

The [[Suez Canal]] in the Middle East, which opened in 1869, was more practical for steamships than for sailing ships, achieving a much shorter [[European-Asian sea route]], which coincided with more fuel-efficient steamships, starting with {{SS|Agamemnon|1865|2}} in 1865.<ref name="Jarvis">{{cite book |last=Jarvis |first=Adrian |editor1-first=Robert |editor1-last= Gardiner |editor2-first=Dr Basil |editor2-last=Greenhill |date=1993 |title=The Advent of Steam – The Merchant Steamship before 1900 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |pages=158–159 |chapter=9: Alfred Holt and the Compound Engine |isbn=0-85177-563-2}}</ref>{{efn|The distance from London to Fuzhou via the Cape of Good Hope is {{convert|13358|nmi|km|abbr=on}}, compared to {{convert|10120|nmi|km|abbr=on}} via the Suez canal.<ref name="maritime data">{{cite web |last1=maritime data systems |title=Sea Routes |url=https://classic.searoutes.com/routing/4294967421/(51.460079193115234,%200.35891589522361755)/4294967865/4294968021?speed=10&panama=true&suez=true&kiel=true&rivers=block&roads=block&avoided-ports=GBLGP |website=m.classic.searoutes.com |access-date=18 August 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Sailing vessels going around the south of Africa would typically sail over {{convert|14000|nmi|km|abbr=on}} as their routes were adjusted to find favourable winds.<ref name="MacGregor 1983">{{cite book |last=MacGregor |first=David R. |date= 1983|title=The Tea Clippers, Their History and Development 1833-18751833–1875 |url= |location= |publisher=Conway Maritime Press Limited |isbn=0-85177-256-0}}</ref>{{rp|31}}}}

In recent decades, the commercial shipping industry has been reviving interest in [[wind-assisted propulsion|wind assisted ships]] as a way to conserve fuel in the interest of [[sustainability]].{{cn|date=April 2021}}

A '''New Age of Sail'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> has been predicted by some experts to occur by 2030, driven by a revolution in [[energy technology]] and a desire to reduce [[carbon emission]]s from [[maritime shipping]] through [[wind-assisted propulsion]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-15|title=New age of sail looks to slash massive maritime carbon emissions|url=https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/new-age-of-sail-looks-to-slash-massive-maritime-carbon-emissions/|access-date=2021-06-07|website=Mongabay Environmental News|language=en-US}}</ref> The book ''Trade Winds: A Voyage to a Sustainable Future for Shipping'' discusses the potential of a return to wind propulsion through the firsthand experiences of Christiaan De Beukelaer, who spent five months aboard a sailing cargo ship in 2020.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526163097/|title=Trade Winds: A Voyage to a Sustainable Future for Shipping|author=Christiaan De Beukelaer|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=2023|isbn=978-1-5261-6309-7}}</ref>

[[Category:Early Modernmodern period]]